Joan Hadaway, Flo Page and I had a recent trip to WI HQ for their Open Day.  There we met Janice Langley (NFWI Chair), she came over to welcome us, I think especially as we were from West Sussex.  The photo also shows Joy Thomson, chair of the membership committee.  In true WI tradition we had delicious cakes with our coffee or tea.  It was a very informative and interesting morning.  Following a presentation by each team leader, we were  shown all over the building and met the staff.  We actually found an office full of men, a small office and only three men!  We were able to ask questions wherever we went and the staff went out of their way to be helpful.

A moan we all had was about the advertising we receive with the WI Life.  However, when you consider that all we have to do is recycle the leaflets, we were left thinking that the effort is worth it as it keeps down the cost to us of  WI Life, so it’s not really a hardship.

Lunch was in a bistro opposite Parsons Green tube station.  No coincidence that the bistro was full of WI members, this had nothing to do with the fact that they were offering a Kir Royal to all WI members, and the food was very good.

We took the tube to the Tower and were stunned at the sight of so many poppies, each one representing a life lost.  More are being added all the time and the last one will be placed there on 11th November, after which the army of volunteers will post the poppies to the people who have bought them.  It surprised me how many people were there to view the poppies.

A very enjoyable day, impeccably led by Flo and if you get the chance to visit the HQ next year, I would certainly recommend it.

Margaret Wallace